GL / XM assorted posts, 2003

[Andris Andrejuks]

Hi! First of all would like to say thanks (especially to Hans Henrik) for the information about XM2, now it seems that I'm ready to replace my old Sony TRV35E (Vide8) with Canon XM2 or maybe with SONY TRV60. So, I'm interested if you have faced any problems on XM2?

1. I've read in many forums (DVI as well) that XM2 gives a vignette (but still some people say that it doesn't). Have you experienced this problem? If "yes", in what conditions (e.g. low light, zooming etc.) I've found some images (on French DV forum) http://www.repaire.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=21763

2. What about XM2's low light? From http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/0208_3CCD.html it seems that it is good (in comparison with my previous Panasonic MX500), but the vignette could be seen. But there is no vignette on http://www4.big.or.jp/~a_haru/exknow2002au/night.html (Canon XV2). It seems that XM2 has too much yellow colour (vs Sony VX2000) + a lot of grain if compared to Sony TRV50.

3. Is there a really big difference between XM2 & Sony TRV60. Unfortunately, I'm not able to make comparison of both, so hope you'll help me:-)

4. And the last, but not the least, could someone put on ftp some video. If "yes", please inform me here in the forum or by e-mail: andris@unet.lv

Hans Henrik, are you able to set up FTP server again, I would be very happy to download some examples of XM2 videos (especially, if you have in rather low light, as I 'm going to shoot a lot of concerts). THX!

Thanks a lot!

Andris Andrejuks

[Hans Henrik Bang]

I have a bunch of requests for FTP already, but unfortunately my main PC is down for repairs at the moment (motherboard defect). Will have it fixed soon, and I will put the FTP back up too.

Hans Henrik

[Steve Urban]

Hi all:

I've had my Century Optics 2x for a few weeks now. I finally got a chance to play around with it at a Great Blue Heron rookery.
The first picture will show you the nests in the dead trees taken
with my wife's Canon S330. From the front nests to the back nests the two GL2 photos of the herons were taken in nests about half way back. This gives you an idea of what 40x can do. Both heron pictures were taken in Normal mode (I thought I had set it to Frame).

http://www.metrocast.net/~jsurban/

Once I repair the file structure on my hard drive I'll see how my heron video came out with the 2x and post a small clip.

The next part of this page contains five pictures (four taken to the memory card and one a frame grab) during a week on an island in the Caribbean in March. There are also a few short video clips.

Observations from Caribbean video stills and clips:
- GL2 auto focus on flying birds or anything moving is pretty slow
- Shooting on the beaches I used mostly Sand and Snow mode and it came out a little more natural than Auto mode
- I noticed than some beach/water clips (including "Snapshot" one on web page are a little blurry, don't know if this is the mist coming off the water/waves, heat off beach, or what
- Even when there were no waves I would still see a salt mist coating on my lens at the end of the day

I've had my GL2 for almost a year now and am very happy with it!

Steve

[Graham Bernard]

Excellent footage! - Gotta get me one of them Century x2ers!! NOW!!!

What did you use to encode to the web? Looks superb.

Grazie

[Steve Urban]

Hi Grazzie:

I took most of the Caribbean footage plus herons in Normal mode.
Now, after reading many postings here I'm going to switch to Frame mode because all my output usually goes to the web.

I'm using Pinnacle Studio 8.5 on my pc doing the Capture, Edit, and then Make Movie steps.

When editing the still images or frame grabs from GL2 I'm using Photoshop. The only changes I make in Photoshop are:
1) Image menu / Adjust / Auto Levels for Histogram
2) Filter menu / Sharpen / Unsharp Mask
and that is it.

Steve

[Graham Bernard]

Framew mode Hmmm.... interesting, must experiment more. Thnx for the details - your work looks just great!

Grazie

[Gabriel_Knight]

Hi,

The official dealer of Lowepro in The Netherlands has lowerd this price of the Lowepro mini trekker with 50% costing now only 99 euro.

The problem is, this backpack is small (I just love a small bag) but does anybody know if my XM2 will fit in this bag?
The bag is now very cheap, but because there are only a few online stores who sell this bag, I can not test to see if it will fit my XM2?

Who can help me

[Joe Sacher]

Thanks for asking this question. I think this will be the bag for my new GL2. I stopped by a local shop that happened to have it in.

If you look at the picture here, you might be able to follow my description better:

http://www.lowepro.com/pages/series/...ng/minitrk.htm

When you pull all of the dividers going across the center, my GL2 fit great in the center. With the large 5700 mAh battery and the hood, it fits with a little extra vertical space. I don't have the wide angle lense yet, but it should fit that without a problem. I oriented the camera with the lense pointing up. With the camera in the bag, there is a bunch of space for batteries, charger, etc. on the sides. Then there is a nice spacious pack behind. The bag top closes and the hangle pushes just slightly into the back compatment. This should keep the camera from shifting. I was impressed with the support system in the straps and adjustment. It isn't quite as nice as my backpacking setup, but will work very well.

[Chris King]

<<<-- Originally posted by Gabriel_Knight : Hi,

The official dealer of Lowepro in The Netherlands has lowerd this price of the Lowepro mini trekker with 50% costing now only 99 euro.

The problem is, this backpack is small (I just love a small bag) but does anybody know if my XM2 will fit in this bag?
The bag is now very cheap, but because there are only a few online stores who sell this bag, I can not test to see if it will fit my XM2?

Who can help me -->>>

I have the smaller Micro Trekker 200 and my GL2 fits fine.

[Joe Lloyd]

I put my GL2 in a LowePro mini Trekker. I also take 3 BP945 batteries, an optex .3x fisheye, Century 2x teleconverter, DM50 shotgun, and the WD58 wide angle lens. Plus cleaners and stuff.

Tons of room in this little bag.

[Vadim Arshavsky]

Is it possible to mount this hood on the Wide Angle Lens of Sony (VCL-HG0758) ? The lens is 93mm in diameter.

[Tom Hilton]

Hi, I am just now purchasing a GL2 for a wedding (low light) coming up soon. My wife and I have a GL1 with a 12-watt shoe light. I've been poring over this forum and have a massive several part question. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have about $600-$700 budgeted for audio/light accessories (excluding batteries, I already have 3 BP945 style and one smaller BP brand for the shoe light).

Audio - I would like to buy a lavalier (wireless), shotgun mike, headphones, so I'm assuming I'll also need an XLR adapter too. Is there a combo setup that includes all of these options, or will I need to piece together the system? It seems like Sennheiser/Beachtek/Sony are recommended. Will I be able to attach both mics, using the XLR adapter, as well as use headphones, all at once (ie; one mic into each channel).

Lighting - The 12-watt shoe light seems very invasive and doesnt seem to "spread" very well, when relatively close (Lights up part of interviewee's face), I was planning on shooting in TV mode to capture as much light as possible. Does anyone have lighting suggestions or recommendations. I was wondering if anyone uses a "gel" to bring down the glare of their shoe, of if some sort of stick lighting separate from the camera works better.

Thanks again for any help or suggestions.

[Skip Tompkins]

Hello to everyone!

I've just received a new GL2 and decided that it would be a great time to join in what I believe is the best community on the net. I'll probably have a lot of questions but I'll try to use the search feature to keep from being a repetive annoyance.

I'll be using the camera in my church and am looking forward to a time of "exploring" and learning what it has to offer.

Thanks for letting me a part of the family.

[Rob Lohman]

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your new purchase!
You've gotten a very good camera and am sure it'll produce
some nice images for you!

Good luck!

[Ken Tanaka]

Welcome, Skip!

As Rob noted, you've got the goods! You're going to have some fun now. We're all here to support each other and you have plenty of company with the GL2 (and XM2). Fire away!